SOME CHANGES

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Description:Part 6 in Margaret Tait's series 'Aspects of Kirkwall'. Views in and around Kirkwall concentrating on things that have changed. These include a new grammar school building, model yachting on the Peedie Sea, demolition of a building, the 'No Uranium' campaign in Orkney. Commentary by Margaret Tait is provided to accompany some scenes.

"What exactly has changed, in living memory, - "nothing", or "mainly the shops", or "everything"? Changes in appearance and in emphasis in the town of Kirkwall in recent years... Marchers in a protest demonstartion walk silently to the Islands Council offices, as a group of officials with brief cases arrives (on the day of a Public Enquiry into the refusal of planning permission for test drilling for uranium in Orkney). NO URANIUM stickers abound. In the end of the film, the BBC is there in considerable presence, on the Kirk Green in front of the cathedral, to record a programme inviting public comment on the uranium issue. The traditional curfew bell (the 'eight o'clock bells') and a lullaby accompany their packing up at the end of the evening's work"[Source: Margaret Tait Werkshau, Marz 1994 - held in Scottish Screen Archive's Paper Archive 11/1/455]

The Tait papers are deposited in Orkney Archives. Currently being catalogued. For any enquiries please contact Principal Archivist.

The British Artist's Film and Video Study Collection at http://www.bftv.ac.uk/avantgarde based at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design holds an artist's file on Margaret Tait.

The British Film Institute National Library http://www.bfi.org.uk holds many of the published articles on her and her work.

In 1979 Margaret Tait was the subject of a BBC Scotland 'Spectrum' arts programme.

Shotlist:(0.00) title and opening credits (0.49) exts school and construction work on the new Kirkwall Grammar School, gvs people around entrance and view of new building (2.48 school children lined up along fence, cramming their way in to try and get into film frame, waving and shouting. Shots of the playground, Kirkwall Primary School (3.11) shot of a drain and a burn running along [commentary sound discusses the 'Peedie Docky (?)] (3.29) Kirkwall street scenes including Burnmouth Road (3.51) exts factories and shops, model yachting on the Peedie Sea (6.41) during the St. Magnus Festival Friday 16th - Tuesday 20th June, gvs people entering building [to attend arts event (?)] (7.43) pipes and drums march along road outside (8.18) gvs people exiting building after festival event, spilling out onto street, chatting and laughing (9.30) adjacent to 'Orkney Tourist Organisation', gvs building under demolition - there is a gas (?) container in background (11.07) c/u pans along walls then broadening out to show exts St. Magnus Cathedral, the spire under scaffolding (12.05) post demolition construction site showing flattened out ground (12.35) gvs Peedie Sea, with children walking along edge [aeroplane noise in background] (12.51) exts entrance forecourt, St. Magnus Cathedral (13.14) forklift moving wooden palettes (13.27) shot of Greenpeace ship 'Rainbow Warrior' moored in Kirkwall Harbour, pan of bay and town (14.24) bags of Portland Cement are unloaded from ship (14.56) [very dark and stormy] ship in harbour, including 'Shetland Trader', 'Islander' and 'Orcadian', the boats depart (15.52) street under construction, views of car park as taken from behind car windscreen - a man [possibly Alex Pirie] gets into car (16.53) exts shop with 'No Uranium' sticker in window, gvs pedestrians reading street display concerning the No Uranium Campaign, gvs protest march with people holding placards reading 'No Uranium' and 'Orkney Forever', [silent] protesters gather at entrance to (Council?) office building and watch as officials and politicians enter building, presumably for a meeting (18.53) [sound returns] ints and exts shop, shots of BBC Outside Broadcast team and vans outside St. Magnus Cathedral, people make speeches / reports to camera (21.38)